The Solution to Disputes Over 'Doubtful Things'. (Romans 15: 1-13)

👋 Welcome

Welcome back to The Bible Project Daily Podcast, where we take the Bible one verse at a time and apply it to everyday life. In today’s episode, we tackle one of the most practical and often perplexing issues in Christian community life: what do we do when believers disagree about morally “grey” areas?

Based on Romans 15:1–13, Paul offers a Spirit-filled, Christ-like solution that goes beyond rule-keeping and gets to the heart of Christian unity and self-sacrificial love. Whether you're the "strong" believer walking in freedom or the "weaker" one wrestling with conscience, Paul has a word for all of us.

📖 Episode Summary

In this episode:

• We explore the tension that arises in the church over disputable matters—those morally neutral or unclear issues where believers differ in conscience.
• Paul’s answer? The “strong” in faith are called not to please themselves but to bear with and build up the weak—just as Christ did not please Himself.
• We break down Paul’s structure: an exhortation, an example in Christ, and a prayer for unity.
• Finally, Paul turns to all believers—calling everyone to accept one another as Christ accepted us, so that with one voice we may glorify God together.

🧩 Key Themes

• Spiritual Maturity is shown in Sacrifice, not self-assertion
• Unity comes through mutual acceptance, not uniformity
• Christ is our model—He bore reproach to bring us peace
• Scripture and prayer anchor us in hope, even when we differ

📌 Takeaway

Not every issue requires a verdict—some require love, humility, and patience. Paul’s solution to “doubtful things” is not to win the argument, but to build one another up in Christ.

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• 24:30 (Cont.) The Solution to Disputes Over 'Doubtful Things'. (Romans 15: 1-13)

Transcript

The Solution to Doubtful Things (Romans 15: 1-13)

Transcript: 

Not all moral issues Christians face are clear-cut, black and white. Some are decidedly grey. The challenge arises when, for one Christian, one of those grey issues is perfectly acceptable—while for another, that same issue becomes a matter of conscience, effectively a no, no..

The example Paul often uses in Scripture is food. Now, food should have been a straightforward issue. The Bible makes that abundantly clear. In 1 Timothy 4, verse 4, it says you can eat anything as long as it's received with thanksgiving.

The Apostle Paul himself states in Romans 14, verse 14, "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself." But then, he crucially adds, "but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."

And that's our core problem. Take a grey issue, like eating meat—even meat offered to idols, which was a significant concern in the early church. Paul says it’s fundamentally permissible; it ought to be straight-forward.

He’s convinced all such issues are now morally neutral and are perfectly proper before the Lord. Yet, it still can be a difficult issue for a particular believer. So, what do you do then? What happens when this grey area becomes a point of conscience for one believer, creating tension and debate?

A "strong" believer, one who takes God at His word regarding their freedom in Christ, might look at such an issue and say, "I have freedom in Christ. I'm not bound by old regulations. I can do that." But another believer, perhaps "weaker" in their understanding or conscience on this point, says, "Oh no, I believe that is wrong." How do you resolve that debate?

If there is any single passage that gives us the solution to the debate over doubtful things, it is Romans chapter 15, verses 1 to 13. After all is said and done, this is Paul's distilled solution. So, let's discover what he has too teach us today….

Today we begin by reading Romans chapter 15 and begin reading at verse 1, looking closely at Paul's answer.

He says:

1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews[b] on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;

    I will sing the praises of your name.”

10 Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;

    let all the peoples extol him.”

12 And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.”

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

At first glance, this might seem like a long, somewhat complicated passage, especially with its numerous Old Testament quotations. But in another sense, what Paul lays out here is quite simple. 

These 13 verses can be divided very straightforwardly into two main parts. 

In verses 1 to 6, Paul speaks directly to the "strong" brother—the one who understands their freedom.

Then, in verses 7 to 13, the second half, he speaks to all Christians, both strong and weak.

There's another interesting structural phenomenon here: Paul follows the exact same pattern in each of these two halves. 

In verses 1 to 6, he begins with an exhortation (verses 1 and 2). He then follows that with an example (verses 3 and 4). And he concludes those first six verses by entreating the Lord in prayer (verses 5 and 6). 

This pattern—exhortation, example, and entreaty—is repeated in the second half, verses 7 to 13. 

Here he begins verse 7 with an exhortation, which also introduces the example that extends all the way through verse 12. He then concludes the passage in verse 13 with another entreaty to the Lord.

So, Paul first speaking to the mature believer, then to everyone, using this three-fold pattern in each section—is key to grasping his solution to the debate over doubtful things.

Let's begin with what Paul says to the mature settled Christian. Verse 1:

"We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves."

 His message is simple and clear: you ought to bear with the weak. This means, quite simply, you ought to accommodate the weaker ones.

This isn't a new idea if you've been following Paul's argument through Romans. At the end of chapter 14 (verses 14-23), this was essentially his point. 

We are not to judge one another; we are not to cause another brother to stumble. Rather, we are to bear with them, accommodate them if you will, so that we don't spiritually harm them.

But then he adds a critical component to this exhortation: "and not to please ourselves." We are to bear with them. If need be, we are to sacrifice ourselves, our preferences, our freedoms. We do this, as he explains in verse 2, so we can build them up: "Let each of us please his neighbour for their good, leading to edification."

The options are straightforward: I can do what I want, flaunt my liberty, or I can sacrifice that, give it up for the sake of a brother. I can bear with him, accommodate him, build him up in the faith.

So, this is Paul's initial solution: the mature believer, whom he concedes has the freedom in these morally neutral areas, should nevertheless not please himself. He should please his neighbour, sacrifice himself, and not cause a brother to stumble.

Now, a quick word of clarification.

I don't believe Paul is saying we should appease a legalistic brother. He is teaching that we should accommodate a weaker brother. And by definition, a weaker brother is someone who genuinely believes something is wrong for them. When they see you, a strong believer, doing it, it might wrongly prompt them to also do it too, violating their own conscience. 

If that's the case, Paul says, then don't do it.

On the other hand, there are those we might call "legalistic brothers and sisters." They might come up with lists of things others shouldn't do.

Paul isn't talking about appeasing that kind of spirit. He's talking about accommodating a genuinely weak /struggling brother. That's his call: to bear with the weaker brother or sister, don't bury them.

At this point, I might normally tell a story to illustrate. But Paul beats me to it. In the next verses, he gives us his own illustration. Look at verse 3:

"For even Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproach you fell on me.’"

His example is Christ himself—how he gave up his rights (like financial support) to avoid hindering the gospel. 

Christ did not please Himself. Had He prioritized His own pleasure, He certainly would never have come to Earth to die a cruel death on a cross. He would have stayed in heaven, which was far more convenient and comfortable than being born in a manger and mistreated upon by people.

To reinforce this, Paul quotes Psalm 6: 9, verse 9: "the reproach of those who reproached you fell on me." 

In Psalm 6:9, a godly person representing as the Lord is reproached by ungodly people, even though he did nothing wrong. Paul applies this directly to Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus not only didn't please Himself and sacrificed Himself, but He was also reproached in the process. This is Paul's illustration of how we should respond to the weaker brother.

He adds in verse 4: "For whatever things were written before"—that is, in the Old Testament—"were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." 

Paul is justifying his use of the Old Testament, saying it was all written for us and our learning.

In the Old Testament, God's faithful people often suffered reproach, but God promised a future day of glory. This is certainly true of Jesus Christ. He suffered the reproach of being identified with sinners, wearing a crown of thorns, when one day He will wear the crown of glory. 

So, Paul seems to be saying: if you choose this path of not pleasing yourself, you might bear the reproach of others today, you might sacrifice yourself now, but there is hope in the future. There is hope that you will be rewarded later

It's interesting that in Romans 14, he mentions we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Having exhorted the strong not to please themselves, and illustrated it with Christ, Paul then expresses a prayer; he entreats the Lord:

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Rom 15:5-6)

Notice he attributes to God the characteristics he just attributed to Scripture: patience and comfort. His prayer is for like-mindedness, for unity.

Instead of division in the congregation over some morally neutral issue, he prays for unity, where the strong would willingly bear with the weak, not causing a fellow believer to stumble. "That you may be of one mind and one mouth. Glorify God!" If there was unity and not division, then God can experience the united praise of the congregation.   

How true this is. A congregation can choose to fight over anything—the colour of a carpet, how money is spent—and what suffers? Our harmony and our ability to glorify the Lord together. So, Paul says, solve this problem so that with one mind and one mouth, you can praise the Lord. That's his solution.

You Do likewise. Don't please yourself, then God can be glorified."

The kingdom of God is not about rules and regulations, not about eating and drinking, or not eating and  drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." 

When you sacrifice yourself, for the sake of another person, there is the joy of the Spirit of God in your heart. And that's Paul's solution to this problem for the strong: bear with the weak, don't please yourself, accommodate the weak, so that God can be glorified, and your heart can have joy and hope.

But Paul doesn't stop there. Beginning at verse 7 and going down through verse 13, he now speaks to everybody. 

This second part applies to everyone, whether weak or strong in their faith and how they should accept one another.

Look at verse 7:

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

The call is straightforward: Accept one another. 

You might recall, that's how he started this whole discussion. 

Flip back to chapter 14, verse 1: "Accept one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things." In introducing the subject, the first words out of his mouth were: "the one thing you have got to do is accept one another." So, after this rather long discussion establishing several principles, he comes to the conclusion, and his final urging is to: accept one another.

He's no longer addressing this just to the weak or to the strong, but everybody.

The ultimate solution to this problem is to live in harmony and accept one another despite your differences, despite what you may think about some a-moral issue. Don't make those things barriers; don't build fences because of them. Accept one another.

Again, as he did in the first part of the chapter, he gives us an illustration. And again, the illustration is none other than Jesus Christ. 

Verse 7 again: " Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” 

Here's his illustration: God received us. God accepted us. You may be strong, you may be weak, but the ground at the foot of the cross is level, folks. 

The simple reality is none of us should have been accepted, yet God accepted you and me. 

That's amazing. He accepted me, and He just accepted me because His Son died for me, and all I did to receive that acceptance was trust in His Son, period. 

He gave me the gift of eternal life. I didn't earn that gift; I didn't deserve that gift. If I got what I deserved, the last place I'd ever be is heaven.

With that reality in your mind, then the only logical conclusion is you ought to accept and receive every other person who has trusted Jesus Christ. If God accepted them, then who are you to reject them? 

By God accepting you, that brought glory to Him. It glorified His grace. What Paul is saying is that Christ accepted us to the glory of God. Because He exercised His grace in accepting me/us, and that very act glorified Him. And that's the illustration for why you ought to receive each other. 

Paul now takes this illustration and runs with it, from verse 8 all the way through verse 12, amplifying and elaborating on it.

"For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy."

(Rom 15:8-9)

Paul now pursues this in depth. He says, look, Jesus Christ became a servant to the Jews. He came as a Jew, identified with the nation, ministered to them, and died at their hands.

Philippians chapter 2 says, though He was God, He became a man, in the form of a servant, died the death of the cross. And Paul now explains He did that for two reasons. 

Number one: "to confirm the promises made to the fathers" (verse 8). The coming of Jesus Christ, of course, fulfils all the covenants and promises made in the Old Testament—the Abrahamic, the Davidic, the New Covenant. The little word "and" at the beginning of verse 9 introduces the second reason He became a servant:

 "And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written." 

Folks, at the end of verse 7 he said: "Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." Now in verse 9 he says Jesus Christ became a servant to the Jews so that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. 

And that's the point: Christ did what He did in order to glorify God. He accepted us. He became a servant to the Jews so that God might be glorified. The implication being that we ought to receive one another, extend mercy and grace and love to one another, so that we likewise can glorify God.   

Paul then piles one Old Testament quotation upon another to show that God's intent was always that the Gentiles might glorify God. He hammers away at it. God intended for all, Jew and Gentile, to glorify Him.

So, he says in: 

·         Verse 9: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles and sing to Your name." That's from Psalm 18:49, where the King, the Messiah, says, I will confess to God among the Gentiles.

·         Verse 10: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." That's a quotation from Deuteronomy 32:43, where Moses invites all people to praise God with the Jews.

·         Verse 11: "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!" That's from Psalm 117, verse 1, an invitation for all the nations to praise the God of Israel.

·         And finally, in verse 12, he quotes Isaiah 11:10: "And there shall be a root of Jesse, and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope." He's saying there will come a Jew, the root of Jesse, the Messiah, who will rule over all the nations; that's their hope.

It's interesting: one quote comes from the Law (Deuteronomy), two from the Psalms (the Writings), and one from Isaiah (the Prophets). 

It's as if Paul deliberately surveys the Old Testament, picking verses from all the Jewish divisions of scripture to demonstrate that the whole sweep of the Old Testament shows it was always God's intent that the Gentiles glorify God. And that's his argument for why we should receive one another—so God will be glorified through our unity.

He then ends this second section with another prayer, in verse 13:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

His plea is that we receive one another, which may mean sacrificing our point of view, our comfort, our convenience. But instead of walking around saying, "Poor me, look what I had to give up." No! He says.

God will fill you with joy and peace in believing. And you will abound in hope by the power that comes from the Spirit of God.

In receiving one another, there is joy produced by God's Spirit, joy from knowing you've done God's will for His glory. That is a peace and joy only the Lord can give. Trying to explain that to someone who's never experienced it is like trying to describe the taste of an orange to someone who's never eaten one. 

But reading that makes perfect sense—I'd rather have the peace and joy of the Lord than run over another brother. Or sister in the Lord.

That's what he's saying: receive one another, don't exclude one another. His illustration: Jesus Christ received us.

As Christians, we don't really have that option. We are required to accept one another. And the great illustration is, He accepted us, so we ought to accept one another.

We're going to spend all eternity with each other because He received us all. We might as well get in practice now, right?

So, let's sum this all up.

The solution to doubtful things, according to Paul in Romans 15, is that the strong should follow the example of Christ by bearing with the weak. And both the strong and the weak should imitate the example of Christ and receive one another.

The result? Personal peace and joy, group unity, and praise to God.

Jesus Christ is the model. The Spirit of God is the means. God the Father is the object of praise. The whole Trinity is involved in this.

What do I get out of it? Peace and joy. What does the church get out of it? Unity, harmony. And God gets glorified.

Just in case I haven't made this abundantly clear, let me conclude by spelling out three things that I think are the practical core of Paul's solution to the debate over doubtful things.

·         Receive One Another. "Do not judge one another," "Don't despise one another." Actively welcome and accept fellow believers.

·         Bear With One Another. This is especially directed to the more mature believer. Don't use your freedom in a way that could damage a brother or sister for whom Christ died. This can involve a willingness to forgo your rights for the sake of another's spiritual well-being.

·         Educate One Another. This might seem counterintuitive after emphasizing "bearing with," but it's crucial. The immature believer may be weak in their faith regarding a particular matter; so teach and encourage them, which is a different thing. 

So, the three principles summing it all up are: 

·         First, receive one another.

·         Second, if a weaker brother is in your presence and you're a stronger brother, bear with him.

·         And thirdly, while you bear with him, also seek opportunities to gently and lovingly educate and edify him.

And then God can then build His kingdom in you and in the place he has put you, his community of faith, that place we call the church.